To the editor: Some of your letter writers seem to think that making any comparison of former President Trump to Adolf Hitler is inherently more divisive than anything Trump does.
But these comparisons are not to the Hitler of World War II and the Holocaust; they are to 1930s Hitler.
He gained power by stoking grievance; accusing the elected government of treasonous behavior; creating a cult of personality; defining patriotism as loyalty to him personally; identifying a scapegoat population that could be hated and subjugated with impunity; dehumanizing opponents as “vermin”; and promoting militia groups to under-gird his position with the threat of violence.
The constant methodological through-line was the lie — incessant, egregious, ludicrous and above all shameless, until the lies went unquestioned and reality was defined by whatever came out of his mouth.
Trump can’t follow this pattern of behavior and duck the comparisons.
Michael Maniccia, Alhambra
..
To the editor: Trump supporters fret and complain when their hero is likened to Hitler and Mussolini.
As a student of World War II and Hitler’s rise to power, I believe that if you don’t recognize the similarities between Trump and Hitler and their tactics to gain power, you don’t know much about Hitler or you are denying what’s been obvious for years.
The political divide won’t be closed when one side offers a anti-democracy insurrectionist as its presidential nominee.
To paraphrase a famous line, if the gloves fit you must convict. Trump’s gloves are quite snug.
Ray McKown, Torrance
